Figure 1.

The DYN/KOR system in motivational and emotional neurocircuitry. A schematic representation of brain motivational and emotional neurocircuitry, illustrating relevant neurotransmitters implicated in the pathophysiology of various neuropsychiatric disorders following chronic exposure of alcohol and drugs of abuse. Abbreviations: PFC, prefrontal cortex; Acb, nucleus accumbens; AMYG, amygdala; BNST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; VTA, ventral tegmental area; DR, dorsal raphe; LC, Locus coeruleus; GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid; DYN, dynorphin; cAMP, cyclic AMP, CREB, cAMP response element-binding protein; ΔFosB, a member of the Fos family of transcription factors.